My Two Cents: Judge or Be Judged, It Comes With the Territory Under Playoff Spotlight
NEW YORK — I've been around baseball so long, that I know better than to make a big deal out of just one or two baseball games. Small sample sizes just don't work in making judgments on players or teams.
But it's impossible not to notice what Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has done so far in the first two games of the American League Division Series with the Cleveland Guardians. He's 0-for-8 — with a whopping seven strikeouts in a series that's now tied 1-1 after Cleveland won 4-2 on Friday.
He was actually being booed by Yankees fans on Friday, which says a lot more about Yankees fans than Judge.
Now the series shifts to Cleveland for two games, and it's very possible that the Yankees don't make it back to the Bronx.
Judge captured the imagination of the baseball world this season with his epic home run chase of Roger Maris, and his American League record of 61 home runs that had stood since 1961.
Judge did it, finally hitting No. 62 on the second-to-last day of the season, but it took six games between 61 and 62 for him to get it done. It wore him out, all the pressure and notoriety.
And it might be carrying over to the playoffs.
He was 0-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday's win, but then when 0-for-5 on Friday with four strikeouts. And like I said, I try not to make a big deal of small windows like this, but there's some history now, too.
This is the sixth year that Judge has played in the postseason, and he's hit just .217 in October. And this is NOT a small sample size, because he's 31-for-143. He has 15 extra base hits — 11 home runs and four doubles — a rate far below his regular-season numbers. He's also struck out a whopping 58 times, that's nearly 41 percent of the time.
It's got me wondering. Judge, who's reached superstar status this year, reminds me a touch of another superstar, LeBron James of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. Coincidentally, James is a huge Yankees fan too and is rooting AGAINST his hometown team, the Cleveland Guardians. But I digress.
James is 22-33 all-time in NBA Finals games, and he's struggled often despite his greatness. Is Judge doing the same thing?
Does Judge carry that same fail-in-the-postseason gene that James has?
LeBron James wore a Yankees hat to a game with the Cleveland Indians back in 2007, and he says the Yankees are his favorite baseball team.
I'll be interested to see if he can turn it around in this season. I'm thinking not. The Guardians pitching staff is very good from top to bottom, especially that bullpen. We saw what they did to Tampa Bay in the first round, allowing just one run in 24 innings. They're making it tough on the Yankees, too.
Do they make it back to New York? Not if Judge doesn't start hitting. He never has against Cleveland. In 2017, he only had one hit in 21 at-bats while striking out 16 times. Then in 2021, he had one hit in nine at-bats against Cleveland with four strikeouts.
This comes out to a total of 2-for-37 and 27 strikeouts in his playoff career against Cleveland pitching.
And the boos? He said he doesn't care, and it's to be expected. Still, this is a very disturbing trend.
"Not at all. It happens," Judge said, cracking a smile. "It's happened many times in my career here. There's nothing I can do. I gotta play better. That's what it comes down to. Didn't do the job tonight, especially as a leadoff hitter, I gotta get on base. I gotta make something happen on the base path. I didn't do that tonight."
Related stories on Yankees-Guardians baseball
- GUARDIANS TIE SERIES: The Cleveland Guardians tied the American League Division Series 1-1 Friday afternoon with a late, 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in game two. Game three and game four will be played in Cleveland Saturday and Sunday. CLICK HERE
- GIANCARLO STANTON GETS A BREAK: Giancarlo Stanton thought he had ball four. Instead, he homered on the next pitch he saw. CLICK HERE
- DOES RAINOUT FAVOR GUARDIANS? Thursday's rainout means that the Yankees and Guardians now might play four games in four days if the series goes the distance. Does that favor the deeper Cleveland bullpen? CLICK HERE
